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Description/Abstract

Jessica Hemmings proceeds from Jane Schneider's understanding of the impermanent nature of cloth and how it reflects 'the impermanence of social relations'. She illustrates how 'the production of cloth, its presence on the body, and its role within the home' manifests itself in Vera's work. She argues that in each instance cloth exposes the true nature of the unspoken social relations that occur in its presence. For instance, Mazvita's choice of an apron in Without A Name suggests how she perceives herself as 'part of a torn social fabric encased in a body that is worn to the bone through years of unrelenting hostility'. Cloth in Vera's work signifies the abscences and inadequancies of social relations; it also plays the multiple but complementary functions of hiding and revealing the body, and thus the socio-political status of the novel's characters.